Search Results for ‘ice fishing gear’

by Bob Jensen It might not seem like it, but the late ice season is not that far off. With Polar Vortex's and such displaying their power, warmer weather seems like a long way off. However, as the days continue to get longer and the sun moves farther north, we can be assured that the fish...

by Bob Jensen Winter has definitely arrived in the Midwest. The Midwest provides lots of fishing opportunities throughout the winter months for both open water and ice anglers. Many anglers like to go ice-fishing; many others enjoy fishing in the open water in rivers below dams. Regardless of...

We are now living in an era where mechanization and technology continue to escalate at an amazing pace and it seems nearly impossible to keep up with everything being presented to us. As gritty and quite accurately down to earth as the outdoor world is for those of us who choose to enjoy it...

By Nick Simonson I recall clearly many days where an "ah-ha!" moment changed the way I did things forever. One such moment happened on December 26, 2000, and it altered the way I fished through the ice permanently. The converted trailer shack that my buddy Holmes, his cousin Adam and I were...

By Nick Simonson The noise in the pines behind me grew until it sounded like a rushing spring waterfall on the North Shore. I had been on the ice just long enough to set up my hub-style ice fishing shelter, drop my Vexilar transducer and land my first fish of the new year when the fabric...

Our Outdoors - By Nick Simonson A post on the ice fishing forum of a website that I help moderate asked: "I paid $300 for an old sled shack and a Vexilar, did I get a good deal?" My response was as it usually is for these kinds of questions, "You'll wonder how you ever fished without them."...

By Nick Simonson The ice on most northern lakes is now thick enough for anglers to safely haul out their toys thanks to a cold stretch at the beginning of the month. Though nighttime temperatures have been below zero, new innovations and advancements in tackle, gear and shelters are helping...

By Nick Simonson It's the evening of the first day when the temperature has stayed well below freezing and I'm sitting in the not-quite-bright-enough light of the living room, squinting as hard as I can in an effort to thread a wisp of one-pound test through the eye of a 1/64 ounce Genz worm in...

Through years of studying, fishing, and testing by engineers rooted in the heart of the ice-belt, a new leader emerges on the forefront of the ice fishing electronics market. The result is the MarCum line of high-power sonar flashers that were designed from the ground-up, relying on modern...

By the Ice Team Many ice anglers of today understand that winter's fish live in water at its clearest. In such conditions, fish tend to locate and choose prey based on visual evidence. That might sound like mumbo-jumbo, but it means that what your bait looks like is more important under...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson (Part -1 & 2) Though the weather has been more like March, the holiday season is upon us. If you haven't figured out what to buy your favorite ice angler for Christmas, it's not too late. Each year brings more advancement in ice fishing gear and gadgets and...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Is there anything as comforting on the ice as the whir and glow of a sonar unit? Inside the cover of a permanent shack, or jumping from hole to hole, flasher-style depth finders have been a boon to anglers for over 15 years. New developments in sonar technologies...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson I cannot recall how many times I have watched fish rise up on the Vexilar as I work my lure in the water column only to have the fish pause at my offering then head back to the bottom. Be it a small jig with a wax worm or a spoon with a minnow head, it is...

By Jason Mitchell More ice anglers are discovering that the tip of the rod we are using has as much influence on our presentation as the actual motion we put on the rod while fishing. A rod with a fast tip for example will give the lure a distinct flash and pound that is more abrupt, perhaps...